Haight Ashbury History

Historic buildings, vintage photos, century-old stories, and profiles from a bygone era — we sure got nostalgic here at Hoodline headquarters this year. Here are some of our recent journeys through the city’s rich backstory over the past 12 months.

The people

This year we told the tales of colorful characters from generations ago, and heard the oral histories of notable residents who are still with us.

We interviewed Bill Del Monte, a 108-year-old survivor of the 1906 earthquake, and Harry Strauch, Haight Street icon and proprietor of Gallery 683.

Bill Del Monte. Photo: Dijon / Hoodline

We explored the legend of the Space Lady, a local ’70s-era street performer who made a comeback this year, and met the proprietor of the amazing Neptune Columbarium at Stanyan and Geary, which has been in operation since 1898.

We uncovered a 1978 survey of the citizens of the Upper Haight, in which rising rents and the influx of “gays” and “bums” were common concerns.

And we delved into the life of Victor Duboce, perhaps our most famous veteran and namesake of our local Park, Avenue, and Triangle.

The culture

Bars and bathhouses, free love and foul crimes — San Francisco’s often sordid, always fascinating cultural landscape was the source of a number of Hoodline stories in 2014.

We watched a 1967 KPIX documentaryabout drugs and sex in the Haight, and footage from the Human Be-In Festival in Golden Gate Park the same year. We also enjoyed a new collection of snapshots from the Haight’s hippie era by photographer Jim Marhsall.

We ventured inside the Lower Haight’s ’70s-era bathhouse at Oak and Steiner, remembered wild disco nights at the I-Beam, and learned about a 1980s “fern bar” in the Upper Haight called the Achilles Heel.

We also celebrated with a number of current businesses that reached milestones this year. Hayes Valley music venue Rickshaw Stop turned 10, as did a number of Divisadero merchants. Lower Haight streetwear icon Upper Playground turned 15, and the venerable Hayes Street Grill turned an impressive 35.

The structures and streets

Homes, hospitals, monuments, and stadiums – we went on a virtual tour of our local landmarks this year, some of which are long forgotten.

From time to time, we take a look at our neighborhoods through the camera lenses of long ago, and compare them to the their modern day views. In 2014 we presented new before-and-after photo comparisons of Hayes Valley, Lower Haight, Market Street, and the Castro.

We learned the history of Oak Street’s Firehouse No. 21, which dates back to 1893, and the amazingly rich tale of 121 Haight Street, a former communist clubhouse that’s now a parking lot. Who knew that 600 Divisadero (now Rare Device) was once an orphanage, or that Falletti’s formerly housed cable cars, or that Magnolia used to be a pharmacy?

We shared the story of the Panhandle’s McKinley monument, a 110-year-old tribute to the former president that faces modern-day challenges. We took a lap around the 89-year-old Kezar Stadium as it undergoes much-needed renovations. And we burrowed through the construction of the Sunset Tunnel, which offered our western neighbors a long-desired gateway to downtown.

And we uncovered structures and sites long vanished. We resurrected the somewhat morbid history of the Calvary Cemetery near Masonic and Geary, and took a trip to the 1860s pleasure grounds known as Hayes Park. We rounded the bases at the short-lived Ewing Field at Turk and Masonic, and remembered the Haight’s long-decommissioned streetcar.